BJP looks to mine Janardhan Reddy's clout in Bellary, Koppal Lok Sabha segments

Mining baron and Karnataka Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP) founder Gali Janardhan Reddy’s return to BJP may help rejuvenate the party in Bellary and Koppal Lok Sabha constituencies.

Political analysts say this development may help BJP’s Bellary candidate B Sriramulu mend fences with Reddy. Once close associates, they were not on good terms in recent times.   

The changed scenario has boosted the morale of BJP workers, after the party’s debacle in last year’s Assembly elections, when it managed to win only one out of the 16 seats coming under the two LS constituencies. 

The saffron party’s tally in the Assembly from under the Koppal Lok Sabha constituency has increased to two, with Reddy, who is MLA from Gangavathi, joining the party. 

Sriramulu, who bit the dust in Bellary rural Assembly seat last year, has been looking for a revival of his prospects. He, along with a few other BJP leaders, had stepped up efforts to reinduct Reddy into BJP.  

The Bellary LS segment, which was once a citadel of Congress, turned into a fortress of BJP from 2004.

G Karunakar Reddy, J Shantha, B Sriramulu won the seat after BJP leader Sushma Swaraj suffered a defeat against Sonia Gandhi in 1999. Janardhan Reddy had played a key role in the victory of BJP candidates here.

In recent years, after illegal mining cases were filed against Reddy, BJP lost its grip over the constituency, helping Congress’ revival.  

“The merger of KRPP with BJP will help the saffron party’s revival, apart from boosting chances of Sriramulu’s victory. The Congress MLAs in the region have not undertaken any development work after the launch of guarantee schemes,” Ballari district BJP president Anil Naidu said.

The BJP is trying to capitalise on the Hindutva factor in Gangavathi, where development of Anjanadri Hills (said to be Lord Hanuman’s birthplace) had become a poll issue last year, and in places like Siraguppa, Sindhanur and Maski, with the active support of Reddy.

KPCC spokesperson Venkatesh Hegde claimed that the return of Reddy would not help BJP and dent Congress’ vote bank.

Pointing out that the court had prohibited entry of Reddy into Ballari city, he charged that Reddy had rejoined BJP only to get himself exonerated from cases of illegal mining.

“Reddy’s KRPP secured more votes only in Gangavathi Assembly constituency. His wife Aruna Lakshmi managed to get around 50,000 votes in Ballari city due to infighting in Congress and BJP last year. Now, the situation is different as Congress cadre is united behind their candidate E Tukaram,’’ he said.